Advertiser pays information and messaging system, apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A system and apparatus for permitting a user of a selective call receiver ( 31 ) to receive a certain number of personal messages and information service updates without paying a fee for such services in return for reading advertisements wirelessly transmitted to the selective call receiver. The user is allowed to read the advertisements at any time prior to receiving the personal messages and information service updates. The certain number is proportional to the number of advertisements read. The certain number can be increased by the user responding to questions within advertisements using reverse channel messaging capabilities of a selective call transceiver ( 32 ), or by using a conventional telephone ( 22 ).

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/627,642, filed Apr. 4,1996 U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,030 issued Feb. 9, 1999, which is hereby fullyincorporated by reference herein and assigned to Motorola, Inc.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to wireless communications and inparticular to a system and apparatus for receiving advertisementsthrough a selective call receiver.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that paging system infrastructure operators deriverevenue for selectively transmitting messages to persons carryingselective call receivers or selective call transceivers, hereinaftercollectively referred to as pagers. Usually such messages are personalmessages transmitted to one pager, although at times such messages aregroup messages transmitted to more than one pager. A user of the pagerpays a fee to the paging infrastructure operator for such service eitheron a per message basis or on a flat rate for a predetermined timeperiod. It is also well known that the paging infrastructure operator oranother entity provides information services such as stock prices,weather reports, traffic reports, sports scores, etc., to users ofpagers for a fee. Such services are customized to the needs and desiresof each pager user; however, the information received through suchservices does not comprise personal messages. The fee for suchinformation services usually depends upon the oftenness and quantity ofinformation transmitted. Such fee typically is paid directly orindirectly to the other entity that provides the information.Collectively, the transmission of personal messages and the transmissionof information services comprise paging services. In any event, the userof the pager pays for the paging services received on the pager.

Attempts have been made to provide paging services without the user ofthe pager paying any money for the services. One known method has beento transmit an advertisement with every personal message such that thepager displays the advertisement before the pager displays the personalmessage. With such known method, an advertiser pays for the pagingservices. Disadvantageously, with this prior art method, users of pagersmust view every advertisement, including those advertisements that theusers do not consider applicable to their interests. Further, knownmethods fail to provide to the user an option to bypass advertisementsand instead pay for paging services. Finally, with known methods it isimpracticable to transmit an advertisement with every update, such as astock price update, transmitted as part of an information service.

Therefore, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus forproviding free paging services to pager users through the use ofadvertisements in a way that encourages the user to ponder the contentof advertisements transmitted to the user's pager.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance withthe preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram of the system controller used inthe communication system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an electrical block diagram of the selective call transceivershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an electrical block diagram of a microcomputer used in theselective call transceiver of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a simplified diagrammatic representation of interactions amongelements of the selective call transceiver of FIG. 1

FIG. 6 is a simplified diagrammatic representation of interactions amongelements of the selective call transceiver of FIG. 1

FIG. 7 is a simplified diagrammatic representation of interactions amongelements of the selective call transceiver of FIG. 1

FIG. 8 shows a bar code written on a display of the selective calltransceiver of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical block diagram of a wirelesscommunication system, preferably a wireless selective call communicationsystem, or system 20, is shown in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention. The infrastructure of the systemcomprises a message input device, such as a conventional telephone 22,connected by a conventional public switched telephone network (PSTN) 24to a system controller 26. The system controller 26 oversees theoperation of at least one radio frequency transmitter 28 and a pluralityof fixed radio frequency receivers, or receivers 30, and encodes anddecodes inbound and outbound messages into formats that are compatiblewith land line message switches. The system controller 26 also includesan encoder and a decoder and functions to encode and decode pagingmessages to and from selective call transceivers, or transceivers 32.The system controller 26, the at least one radio frequency transmitter28, and the plurality of fixed radio frequency receivers comprise aninfrastructure 33 that is preferably fixed.

The system controller 26 queues data and stored messages fortransmission to the selective call transceivers 32. A subscriber database 40 (see FIG. 2) in the system controller 26 stores informationrelevant to each subscriber's transceiver, including a correlationbetween the unique address assigned to each transceiver and thetelephone number used within the PSTN 24 to route messages to eachtransceiver 32, as well as other subscriber determined preferences.

The system controller 26 schedules transmissions of messages andacknowledgments from the selective call transceivers 32. Thesetransmissions include demand type transmissions from the transceivers,such as acknowledgments to messages that have been transmitted by thesystem controller 26 and responses to messages such as status inquiriestransmitted from the system controller 26. The scheduled transmissionscan also include non-demand transmissions from the transceivers, such asmessages being held by the transceivers, about which the transceivershave informed the system controller 26 within a previous message oracknowledgment transmitted to the system controller 26 by thetransceiver. As will be described in more detail below, a scheduledreverse channel is a portion of the total time available in a singleradio channel frequency that is time shared for both forward and reversechannels. Alternatively, the scheduled reverse channel is some portionof the time available, or all the time available, in a second radiocarrier frequency that is different from the forward channel radiofrequency.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the system controller 26 comprises a cell sitecontroller 34, a message handler 36, an outbound message memory 38, asubscriber data base 40, a telephone interface 42, a channel assignmentelement 44, an address field element 46, an information field element48, a data frame element 51, and a control frame element 52. The cellsite controller 34 is coupled to the radio frequency transmitter 28 andreceivers 30 (FIG. 1) by links 54. The cell site controller 34 couplesoutbound messages including selective call addresses to the transmitterand receivers and controls the transmitter and receivers to transmitprotocol cycles that include the outbound messages. The cell sitecontroller 34 also processes inbound messages from the transceivers 32.The inbound messages are received by the transmitter and the pluralityof receivers, and are coupled to the cell site controller 34. Themessage handler 36, which routes and processes messages, is coupled tothe telephone interface 42, the subscriber data base 40, and theoutbound message memory 38. The telephone interface 42 handles the PSTN24 physical connection, connecting and disconnecting telephone calls atthe telephone links 50, and routing the audio signals between thetelephone links 50 and the message handler 36.

The subscriber data base 40 stores information for each subscriber,including a correlation between a selective call address assigned toeach selective call transceiver 32 and the telephone number used withinthe PSTN 24 to route messages and telephone calls to each transceiver32, as well as other subscriber determined preferences. The outboundmessage memory 38 is for storing a queue of messages that are queued fordelivery to at least one of the plurality of transceivers 32, whereineach message of the queue of messages is associated with a selectivecall address, also stored in the outbound message memory 38, of one ofthe plurality of transceivers 32 for which each message is intended. Themessage handler 36 schedules outbound messages and the selective calladdresses associated therewith within a transmission cycle. The messagehandler 36 also determines response schedules for response messages thatminimize contention of messages at the transmitter and receivers, andincludes response timing information in outbound messages so thattransceivers 32 will respond according to the response schedule. Themessage handler 36 identifies an inbound message as being a responsemessage associated with one of the transceivers in the subscriber database 40, and identifies the response message as being associated withone of the outbound messages in the outbound message memory 38. Themessage handler 36 then further processes the outbound and responsemessages according to their content. The cell site controller 34, themessage handler 36, the outbound message memory 38, the subscriber database 40, and the telephone interface 42, are conventional elements ofthe system controller 26.

The invention preferably operates with a one-way paging communicationprotocol such as the Motorola Flex™ system described in U.S. Pat. No.5,168,493 entitled “Time Division Multiplexed Selective Call System”issued Dec. 1, 1992 to Nelson et al., assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention, and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.Alternatively, the invention preferably operates with the MotorolaReFlex™ two-way wireless paging protocol described in detail in thefollowing United States patents assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,863 entitled “Method and Apparatus forIdentifying a Transmitter in a Radio Communication System” issued Dec.12, 1995 to Simpson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,624 entitled “Method andApparatus for Optimizing Receiver Synchronization in a RadioCommunication System” issued Jan. 27, 1998 to Ayerst, et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,521,926 entitled “Method and Apparatus of Improved MessageReception at a Fixed System Receiver” issued May 28, 1996 to Ayerst etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,369 entitled “Method and Apparatus for InboundChannel Selection in a Communication System” issued Jun. 10, 1997 toAyerst et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,691 entitled “A System and Methodfor Allocating Frequency Channels in a Two-way Messaging Network” issuedApr. 7, 1998 to Wang et al., which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein. It should be appreciated that other communication protocols arealso contemplated.

A paging system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention comprises a fixed portion and a portable portion. Thefixed portion comprises a wireless messaging infrastructure, orinfrastructure 33, that provides interfacing between a pager andtypically the PSTN 24 for communication of information with the pager.The operation of such an infrastructure 33 is well known to thoseskilled in the art. Preferably, the infrastructure includes one of aMotorola MPS2000 paging terminal and a Motorola M15 paging terminal foruse with the Flex one-way protocol. A more detailed description of thehardware of the infrastructure is described in the MPS2000 ProductDescription, the MPS2000 Manual Set, the M15 Series System Overview, andthe M15 Series Manual Set, available for sale to the public as Part No.6880451F17, Part No. 6880450F50-0, Part No. 6880451F35, and Part No.6880450F60-0, respectively, from Motorola Paging Products Group, FortWorth, Tex.

Alternatively, the infrastructure 33 is a two-way paging infrastructuremodified to perform operations in accordance with the invention. Thetwo-way paging infrastructure has a fixed portion including at least onebase station, for communicating with the portable portion utilizing theReFlex™ protocol and coupled by communication links to a systemcontroller that controls the at least one base station. The hardware ofthe system controller preferably includes a Wireless Messaging Gateway(WMG™) Administrator™ paging terminal, a RF-Conductor!™ messagedistributor, and a RF-Usher!™ multiplexer, manufactured by Motorola,Inc. The system controller has software elements and preferably runsunder a UNIX operating system. The hardware of the base stationpreferably includes a Nucleus® Orchestra!™ transmitter and aRF-Audience!™ receiver, manufactured by Motorola, Inc. A more detaileddescription of the hardware of the system controller and of the basestation is described in “Introduction to the Wireless Concert!™”, in“The Wireless Concert!™ Overview and Network Design” and in “TheWireless Message Gateway™ Product Specification”, published by Motorola,Inc., which are available for sale to the public as Part No. 6880491G01,Part No. 6880491G04 and Part No. 6880491G07, respectively, from MotorolaPaging Products Group, Fort Worth, Tex., and which are herebyincorporated by reference herein. It will be appreciated that othersimilar hardware can be utilized for the system controller and basestations.

Each of the at least one base station transmits or receives radiosignals to or from the portable portion via antennas. The radio signalscomprise selective call addresses and message transactions between thebase stations and the pagers. The message transactions include bothpersonal messages and information services data. The system controllerpreferably is coupled by conventional telephone links to PSTN forreceiving selective call messages, i.e., messages intended for one ormore pagers. The selective call messages comprise voice and datareceived from the PSTN using, for example, a conventionaltelephonic-type device or a computer-type device coupled to the PSTN ina manner well known in the art.

The portable portion comprises a plurality of paging receivers 31 (seeFIG. 5) and transceivers such as pager 32. Each paging transceiverincludes a transmitter and a receiver. The operation of a pagingtransceiver is well known in the art and is described more fully in U.S.Pat. No. 5,124,697 entitled “Acknowledge Back Pager” issued Jun. 23,1992 to Moore; U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,582 entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Acknowledging and Answering a Paging Signal” issued Oct. 6, 1992 toDavis; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,038 entitled “Frequency DivisionMultiplexed Acknowledge Back Paging System” issued Oct. 17, 1989 toSiwiak et al., which are assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention and which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Thepaging transceiver, or pager 32, is preferably a Motorola Tango™ pagerand has a microcomputer 80 modified to perform the operations describedand shown in this specification. The Motorola Tango pager is compatiblewith the ReFlex protocol. The Tango pager is described more fully in theMotorola Product Family 255 Service Manual published 1995 by Motorola,Inc., and in the Motorola Product Family 255 Series ControllerSupplement, published 1995 by Motorola, Inc., which are available forsale to the public from Motorola Paging Products Group, Boynton Beach,Fla. as part No. 6881024B80 and part No. 68881104B36, respectively, andwhich are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 3 is an electrical block diagram of a selective call transceiver 32in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.The selective call transceiver 32 comprises an antenna 60 forintercepting transmitted radio frequency (RF) signals. The antenna iscoupled to an input of a receiver 62 and an output of a reverse channeltransmitter 64. The RF signals are preferably selective call (paging)message signals that provide a receiver address and an associatedmessage, such as numeric or alphanumeric message. The receiver 62processes the RF signal and produces at the output a data streamrepresentative of a demodulated address and message information. Thedemodulated address and message information are coupled into the inputof a decoder/controller 66 that processes the information in a mannerwell known in the art. A power switch 68, coupled to thedecoder/controller 66, is used to control the supply of power to thereceiver 62 and the reverse channel transmitter 64.

When an address that has been pre-associated with a selective calltransceiver is received by the decoder/controller 66, the receivedaddress is compared with one or more addresses stored in a code plug (orcode memory) 70, and when a match is detected an alert signal isgenerated to alert a user 71 that a selective call message, or page, hasbeen received. The alert signal is directed to an audible alertingdevice 72 for generating an audible alert or to a tactile alertingdevice 74 for generating a silent vibrating alert. Switches 76 allow theuser of the selective call receiver to select between an audible alertand a tactile alert in a manner well known in the art.

The message information that is subsequently received is stored inmemory 88 (FIG. 4) and can be accessed by the user 71 for display usingone or more of the switches 76 that provide such additional functions asreset, read, and delete, etc. Specifically, by the use of appropriatefunctions provided by the switches 76, the stored message is recoveredfrom memory 88 and processed by the decoder/controller 66 for displayingby a display 78 which enables the user to view the message.

The decoder/controller 66 of FIG. 3 can be constructed utilizing amicrocomputer 80, as shown in FIG. 4. The microcomputer 80 preferablyincludes a display driver 82. The microcomputer 80 includes anoscillator 84 that generates the timing signals utilized in theoperation of the microcomputer 80. A crystal, or crystal oscillator (notshown) is coupled to the inputs of the oscillator 84 to provide areference signal for establishing the microcomputer timing. Atimer/counter 86 couples to the oscillator 84 and provides programmabletiming functions that are utilized in controlling the operation of thereceiver. A RAM (random access memory) 88 is utilized to store variablesderived during processing, as well as to provide storage of messageinformation that are received during operation as a selective callreceiver. A software element stores the subroutines that control theoperation of the receiver, as is well known to those skilled in the art.The software element resides in memory, preferably read-only memory(ROM) 90. It will be appreciated that in many microcomputerimplementations, the programmable-ROM (PROM) memory area can be providedby an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory). Theoscillator 84, timer/counter 86, RAM 88, and ROM 90 couple through anaddress/data/control bus, or bus, 92 to a microprocessor 94, preferablya Motorola M68C11PH8, that performs the instructions and controls theoperations of the microcomputer 80. A person skilled in the art ofprogramming modifies the software using a Motorola HC11 ReferenceManual, published 1991 by Motorola, Inc., and using a MotorolaMC68HC11PH8 Technical Data, published 1995 by Motorola, Inc., Part No.M68HC11RM/AD and Part No. MC68HC11PH8/D, respectively, which areavailable for sale to the public from Motorola Literature Distribution,Phoenix, Ariz.

The demodulated data generated by the receiver is coupled into themicrocomputer 80 through an input/output port, or I/O port, 96. Thedemodulated data is processed by the microprocessor 94 and when thereceived address is the same as the address stored in the code-plugmemory 70 which couples into the microcomputer 80 through an I/O port96, the message, if any, is received and stored in RAM 88. Recovery ofthe stored message, and selection of the predetermined destinationaddress, is provided by the switches that are coupled to the I/O port96. The microcomputer then recovers the stored message, and directs theinformation over the bus 92 to the display driver 82 that processes theinformation and formats the information for presentation by a display.The display is preferably an LCD (liquid crystal display) because theLCD is advantageously light absorptive and is readable by conventionalbar code scanners. At the time a selective call receiver address isreceived, the alert signal is generated which can be routed through thebus 92 to an alert generator 98 that generates the alert signal which iscoupled to the audible alerting device 72. Alternatively, when thevibrator alert is selected as described above, the microcomputergenerates an alert enable signal which is coupled through bus 92 to theI/O port 96 to enable generation of a vibratory, or silent alert. Abattery saver operation is controlled by the microcomputer 80 withbattery saving signals that are directed over the bus 92 to the I/O port96 which couples to the power switch 68. Power is periodically suppliedto the receiver 62 to enable decoding of the received selective callreceiver address signals and any message information that is directed tothe receiver.

FIG. 3 shows a debit/credit meter 77 which is a hardware memory elementcoupled to the decoder/controller 66 for establishing a paging serviceaccounting system. It is contemplated that the debit/credit meter 77 isa non-volatile memory that will retain the information stored within itduring battery changes. The debit/credit meter 77, when fullyreplenished (e.g., when the debit/credit meter is indicating the totalnumber of available credit units), indicates the available number ofcredit units for enabling the user of the selective call transceiver 32to access the received message information, including personal messagesand information service data, that is stored in memory 88. Thedecoder/controller 66 calculates the number of credit units (or debitunits) from a parameter of the stored message, preferably, from thenumber of characters of the stored message to be presented or displayed.Those skilled in the arts will appreciate that the parameter of thestored message may comprise other variables, such as, a time associatedwith the displaying or presenting of the message. A charge, in debitunits, is preferably assigned to each character of the message, and thedecoder/controller 66 counts (accumulates) the number of characters ofthe message to determine the total number of debit units. This charge,debit units, is preferably calculated at the time the personal message,i.e., not an advertisement, is stored in memory. The decoder/controller66 then debits (subtracts) the total number of message debit units fromthe number of indicated or available credit units of the debit/creditmeter 77. Upon debiting the number of debit units of the stored messagefrom the indicated number of credit units of the debit/credit meter 77,the decoder/controller 66 enables access to the stored message whenthere is a sufficient number of available credits units in thedebit/credit meter 77 (e.g., when the debit/credit meter 77 is notdepleted), and disables access to the stored message when thedebit/credit meter 77 is depleted. Thus, once the calculated debit unitsof the received message are debited from the available credit units ofthe debit/credit meter 77, the message is now available for display tothe user 71 at no extra charge irrespective of the number of times theuser views the message on the display 78. That is, the stored message isdebited only once. The debit/credit meter 77 then indicates theremaining number of credit units available for subsequently received andstored messages.

FIG. 5 is a simplified pictorial representation of software elements110, 112, 114, 118 and 120 and the display 78 within a selective callreceiver 31, or one-way pager, and of interactions among such softwareelements and with other elements external to the pager. An advertiser100 places one or more advertisements, or ads, with a service provider102 and pays to the service provider a monetary fee for such privilege.Concurrently, but independently, an information service 104 supplies tothe service provider 102 information such as traffic or weather reportsor stock market prices, and the service provider pays to the informationprovider a fee for such information. Typically, such information isregularly updated at frequent intervals soon after the contents thereinbecomes available to the information provider. One or more persons 106place, without paying any fee, personal messages intended for the user71 by telephoning the service provider. Collectively, the informationsupplied by the information provider and the personal messages are afirst information type. The advertisements are a second informationtype. The service provider wirelessly transmits ads, information, andmessages, as the case may be, to the one-way pager 31 via RF signals.The pager 31 intercepts RF signals through antenna 60. After receivingan RF signal and decoding an ad, the ad is stored in an advertiser'sbuffer 110 which is a data structure within RAM 88. After receiving anRF signal and decoding an update from an information service, the updateis stored in an information service buffer 112 which is a data structurewithin RAM 88. After receiving an RF signal and decoding a personalmessage, the message is stored in a message buffer 114 which is a datastructure within RAM 88.

Each ad transmitted to the pager has a preselected value assigned to it.Preferably, the system controller transmits a plurality of ads to amultiplicity of pagers during off-peak hours. Each of the plurality ofads is stored in the advertiser's buffer 110 along with the valueassigned to the ad. Preferably, the value is expressed in units ofmoney; but, alternatively, the value is expressed in terms of a numberof personal messages. Preferably, the preselected value assigned to anad is directly proportional to the size, or length, of the ad. Thepreselected value of a particular ad is recovered by the user 71 by theuser viewing, and therefore presumably reading, the particular ad.Advantageously, the user views the ads at a time convenient to the user,and not necessarily when the user is receiving a personal message as isdetrimentally required in some prior art systems. After receiving amanual request from the user, the pager presents a message, such as anad. The user views the ad on a display 78, preferably a graphicaldisplay, using means well known in the art. All ads have a uniqueidentification number that is displayed with the ad. In order to ensurethat the user actually reads, rather than merely scrolls through, thead, the ad is displayed for a preselected period, proportional to thelength and complexity of the ad, before the user is credited with thevalue assigned to the ad. Software elements stored within ROM 90 causethe microcomputer 80 to automatically increment a paging service account118 after the ad appears on the display for the preselected period oftime without further action by the user 71. The size of such incrementis equal to the value assigned to the ad. The paging service account 118is a data structure in RAM 88 and is a software-oriented designation forthe debit/credit meter 77 which is hardware memory and is shown in FIG.3.

It is contemplated that all ads will have a value assigned to readingthe ad, but, in additional, some ads will have questions posed to theuser 71. The correct answers are also transmitted with the ad, buthidden from the user. For those ads that have questions propounded tothe user 71, an additional preselected value is assigned to thesuccessful answering by the user of the questions. It is contemplatedthat the ad will inform the user in some quantitative measure of thebenefit of answering the questions contained within the ad and theadditional benefit of conveying the actual answers to the systemcontroller 26. The benefits of answering the questions contained withinthe ad accrue to the user in two steps. First, the microcomputer 80 isprogrammed to grade, or score, the answers and to automatically addcredit to the paging service account 118. The user answers the questionsusing conventional user input means on the pager such as push buttons,and the microcomputer 80 determines through software elements stored inROM 90 whether the answers are correct. If the answers are indeedcorrect, microcomputer 80 causes the paging service account to increase.If the answers are incorrect, the paging service account is notincreased and the user merely receives credit for reading the ad.Second, in the case of a one-way pager 31, the user telephones thesystem controller 26 using a telephone number stated in the ad, andresponds to prompts using a telephone push button keypad. The useridentifies the ad using the unique identification number of the ad thatappears on the display of the pager. In the case of a two-way pager 32,the pager automatically transmits the answers and the uniqueidentification number of the ad to the system controller. In eithercase, the system controller determines whether the answers are correct,and if so, the system controller transmits a credit signal to the pagerin order to credit the paging service account 118. The pager hassoftware elements 120 for processing of credit signals. Softwareelements stored within ROM 90 cause the microcomputer 80 toautomatically increment a paging service account 118 after decoding ofthe credit signal without further action by the user 71. The correctanswers are relayed to the advertiser by the service provider along withthe date and time of answering and possibly other demographicinformation useful to the advertiser. It is precisely because theanswers to the questions in ads provide useful information to theadvertiser, and possibly also to the paging service provider, that thepager user is granted additional credits. Even if the answers do notprovide useful information, per se, the answers do assure an advertiserthat its ad was read.

A pager 31, 32 in accordance with the invention allows a user to receiveinformation services and personal messages in return for reading ads onthe pager. Each information service subscribed to by the user has apreselected cost assigned to it. For example, a user subscribes to astock quotation service, and the price of each stock subscribed to iscontinually updated at a preselected cost such as ten cents per update.It is also contemplated that each pager is capable of receiving personalmessages which is the traditional use of a pager. Each personal messagereceived by the pager has a preselected cost assigned to it. A numericmessage has a lower cost than an alphanumeric message, and longeralphanumeric messages have a higher cost than shorter alphanumericmessages. Software elements stored within ROM 90 cause the microcomputer80 to automatically decrement the paging service account 118 afterdecoding an information service update or a personal message withoutfurther action by the user 71. It is contemplated that a pager inaccordance with the invention will not allow a user to view anyinformation service update or any personal messages when the pagingservice account 118 has a value of zero. However, information serviceupdates and personal messages will, nevertheless, be received anddecoded by the pager and stored in the respective buffers 112, 114 forlater presentation when the paging service account is large enough toallow such presentation. Preferably, a caution message is displayed onthe display 78 when the paging service account approaches a preselectedvalue greater than zero. Upon occurrence of the caution message, theuser reads more ads, or answers more questions that appear in the ads,or does both. In the event there are no more ads to be read or questionsto be answered, or in the event the user is willing to pay for pagingservices, the user tenders a fee to the service provider through anyconvenient financial transfer means, and the service provider wirelesslytransmits a credit signal to the pager in order to update the pagingservice account 118.

FIG. 6 is a simplified pictorial representation of software elements110, 112, 114, 118, 120 and 130 and the display 78 within a selectivecall transceiver 32, or two-way pager, and of interactions among suchsoftware elements and with other elements external to the pager. Theoperation of the two-way pager is similar to the operation of a one-waypaging except that the two-way pager also has a reply buffer 130 whichis a data structure in RAM 88. Preferably, the user answers a questionby depressing buttons on the pager, and in the case of a two-way pager,wirelessly transmitting an answer. The unique identification number ofthe ad is automatically wirelessly transmitted by the pager with theanswer. When the user views an ad or answers questions within an ad,software elements in ROM 90 cause the microcomputer 80 to automaticallyload acknowledge-back, or reverse channel, reply messages into the replybuffer 130 for automatic transmission transparent to the user. The replymessage contains answers to the questions. It is also contemplated thatopinion surveys will be sent to the pager in a manner substantiallysimilar to the manner that ads are sent to the pager. Such surveys willhave questions for the user to answer, and the answers to the surveysare loaded into the reply message buffer. Similarly, but at the optionof the information service entity, reverse channel reply messages areloaded into the reply buffer when the user reads information serviceupdates. Such reverse channel transmissions are made virtuallyimmediately, or alternatively, if the advertiser or information servicewishes, made later during off-peak hours. Such reverse channeltransmissions are wirelessly received by the system controller 26. Uponreceiving the reverse channel reply messages from the pager, the pagingservice provider is capable of immediately relaying this information tothe information service entity and to the advertiser as “info use data”and “ads read data”, respectively, preferably by wireline. This providesthe advertiser or opinion surveyor with immediate and accurate feedbackof the mental impressions of the target user in exchange for financingthe user's access to individual paging messages.

FIG. 7 is a simplified pictorial representation of bar code generatingsoftware elements 110, 112, 114, 118, 120, 140 and 142 and the display78 within a one-way pager 31 or a two-way pager 32 and of interactionsamong such software elements and with other elements external to thepager 31, 32. In the case of a one-way pager, the reverse channel shownin FIG. 7 is absent or is via wireline. The advertiser supplies thepaging service provider with an ad containing questions, and coupongenerating information. It is well known that paper coupons presentlyhave a uniform product code, or bar code 145, printed on them, and thatsuch bar codes are read by a bar code reader 144 such as a laser scannertypically found at supermarkets. A pager in accordance with theinvention is capable of writing a coupon-style bar code on the display78 of the pager. The bar code written on the pager corresponds to an adread by the user on the pager. The bar code is identical to the bar codeon paper coupons. Alternatively the bar code is slightly different inorder to indicate that the bar code was generated by a pager; however,the bar code on the pager functions identically to a bar code on a papercoupon, that is, a discount is granted to the presenter of the coupon.Software elements residing in ROM 90 cause the microcomputer to tabulateaccumulated coupons within the coupon buffer 140 after an ad is read oralternatively after the questions are answered correctly. The couponbuffer is a data structure within RAM 88, and is preferably a relativelynon-volatile memory. Coupon output software elements 142 residing in ROM90 cause the microcomputer to write the coupon bar code on the displayupon the user inputting an appropriate command via conventional pageruser input means such as push buttons on the pager. Typically, the userwould input the appropriate command immediately before needing topresent the coupon, such as when the user is in a supermarket checkoutline. The user or the checkout clerk then swipes the pager across thelaser scanner, the laser scanner reads the coupon, and the coupontransaction is completed. FIG. 8 shows a bar code written on a display78 of the pager. Alternatively, instead of a coupon-style bar codewritten on the display, a multicharacter alphanumeric code is written onthe display for visual observation and manual recordation by a salesclerk.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1 for establishing the paging accountservice system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of theinvention. When the user selects an advertisement/survey menu (step 200)from among available menus appearing on the display of the pager, anadvertisement or survey name from among a list of advertisements andsurveys appears on the display, step 202. The advertisement/survey(hereinafter ad) is selected with conventional user input means on thepager. The user either chooses to view the ad named, or scrolls through(step 204) a list of ads by returning to step 202 and viewing the nameof the next ad on the list. Once an ad is selected, it is written on thedisplay, step 206. At step 208, the displayed message is checked todetermine whether it is being displayed for the first time. If the adbeing displayed for the first time, the period of time that the adappears on the display is measured in step 210. If the period of timethat the ad appears on the display is greater than a preselected period,the method proceeds to step 212 where money, or a credit, is depositedinto the paging service account 118 in an amount assigned to the ad, andthe method proceeds to step 214. The method also proceeds directly tostep 214 from step 208 if the ad had been read before. At step 214, theuser is given the opportunity to answer questions appearing in the ad(or response to a survey) using conventional user input means on thepager. If the questions are answered correctly, an additional amount ofmoney, or credit, is deposited into the paging service account 118. Ifsurvey questions were answered at step 214, the answers are loaded intothe reply buffer 130 for subsequent transmission to the systemcontroller 26. An advertiser can allow a user to view an ad more thanonce (step 218), but it is expected that the paging service account 118will be credited only once. However, some ads are designed to be readmore than once over a relatively long time period to encourage retentionof the information conveyed in the ad. With an ad designed to be readmore than once, access to the ad is inhibited, at the advertiser'soption, for a preselected interval of time, T (step 220). Alternatively,an ad is deleted after one viewing (step 222).

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1 showing the operation of the reversechannel transmitter 64 of the two-way pager 32 when theadvertiser/survey reply menu is being used (step 230). At step 232, ifno reply is made to a survey or if no questions are answered from an ad,then no transmission is made. However, if a survey is replied to, or ifquestions from an ad are answered, then at step 234 a transmission ismade on the reverse channel of a signal containing the reply to thesurvey or answers to the questions, as the case may be. At step 236, thereceiver 62 of the two-way pager 32 may receive a confirmation signalfrom the system controller 26, and from the confirmation signal it isdetermined whether the reverse channel message was received by thesystem controller. If the reverse channel message was successfullyreceived by the system controller, the paging service account 118 isincreased and the reply message is deleted from the reply buffer 130. Ifthe reverse channel message was not successfully received, then thepager programmed in accordance with the invention will re-transmit thereverse channel message again.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1 when a user selects either a personalmessage service or an information service feature (collectively“message/info service”) on the pager, step 250. At step 252, the user isgiven the choice of which services are available on the pager. At step254, the user selects one of the services. If at step 256 the user isviewing previously received and paid for personal messages orinformation, the personal messages and/or information is displayed in aconventional manner (step 264). If however, the personal message orinformation is being viewed for the first time (e.g., is a new message)then microcomputer of the pager programmed to operate in accordance withthe invention checks (step 258) whether there is enough money, orcredit, in the paging service account 118. If there is not enough money,or credit, then a message to that effect is written (step 260) on thedisplay 78. If there is enough money, or credit, then the paging serviceaccount is debited an amount equal to the value of the information orpersonal message (step 262). Each occurrence of the user viewinginformation from an information service is recognized by themicrocomputer and the occurrence is loaded into the reply buffer 130 forsubsequent transmission by the two-way pager. Data composed of number,nature and time of these occurrences allow the service provider and theinformation service the option to modify the content and nature (such asfrequency of updates useful to an individual user) of the informationconveyed to the user. This enables successful development of thewireless information service industry.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the selective calltransceiver according to FIG. 1 showing the operation of the pager whenthe coupon menu is selected, step 265. Upon the coupon menu beingselected, the microcomputer 80 programmed in accordance with theinvention will check expiration dates of all coupons stored in thecoupon buffer 140 and delete all expired coupons, and will display thenames and discount amount of the unexpired coupons, step 266 in thecoupon buffer (step 267). The user scrolls through the names of thecoupons and selects a coupon at step 268. At step 269, the coupon iswritten on the display 78, see FIG. 8. At step 270, the time that thecoupon has been displayed is measured. It is contemplated that thecoupon will be displayed for a preselected limited period of time toavoid repetitive use of a coupon intended to be used only once. At step272, it is determined whether the coupon can be used more than once. Ifthe coupon can not be used more than one time, then at step 274, thecoupon is erased from the display, and the coupon is wiped from thecoupon selection list stored in RAM 88.

Thus, it will be appreciated that there has been described an advertiserpays information and messaging system for presenting messages on aselective call transceiver 32. Personal messages received on theselective call transceiver from an infrastructure are messages of afirst information type, and advertisements and opinion polls, orsurveys, are messages of a second information type. The system inaccordance with the invention includes the transmitter 64 at theselective call transceiver for transmitting an answer signal in responseto manual inputs to the selective call transceiver by the user 71 inresponse to the content of messages of the second information type; thereceiver 30 at the infrastructure for receiving the answer signal; acontroller 26 at the infrastructure for determining credit informationin response to the answer signal; a transmitter 28 at the infrastructurefor transmitting a credit signal having the credit information; and amicrocomputer 80 at the selective call transceiver 32 for selectivelyinhibiting and enabling presentation of messages of the firstinformation type in response to the credit information. Further,selective call apparatus has been described that includes a receiver 62for receiving messages including a first information type and a secondinformation type; a display 78 for displaying the messages; a memory, ordebit/credit meter, 77 for storing credit units; and a microcomputer 80coupled to the receiver and to the display. The microcomputer calculatesa number of credit units to be added to the memory after displaying thesecond information type; enables display of the first information typein response to the memory having at least a predetermined number ofcredit units; inhibits display of the first information type in responseto the memory having less than the pre- determined number of creditunits; and calculates a number of credit units to be subtracted from thememory after display of the first information type.

While a detailed description of the preferred embodiment of theinvention has been given, it should be appreciated that many variationscan be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims. For example, the invention is notlimited to wireless communication, but is also applicable to anywireline communication system, such as with the internet, or to fund theinformation superhighway.

What is claimed is:
 1. A selective call apparatus, comprising: areceiver for receiving an advertisement, the advertisement including anassociated coupon bar code and including a plurality of questions; adisplay coupled to the receiver for presentation of the associatedcoupon bar code; a message memory coupled to the receiver for storingthe advertisement; a manual user input device coupled to the receiverfor controlling the presentation on the display of the advertisement,and for inputting answers to the plurality of questions; and amicrocomputer coupled to the receiver for enabling presentation on thedisplay of the associated coupon bar code in response to the answers,wherein the advertisement includes correct answers to the plurality ofquestions, and in which the microcomputer enables presentation on thedisplay of the associated coupon bar code in response to comparing thecorrect answers with the answers inputted by the user through use of themanual user input device.
 2. A system, including an infrastructure andat least one selective call transceiver, for controlling visiblepresentation of a coupon bar code at the selective call transceiver, theselective call transceiver receiving at least one advertisement from theinfrastructure, comprising: a transmitter at the selective calltransceiver for transmitting a reply message in response to presentationof the advertisement at the selective call transceiver; a controller atthe infrastructure for receiving the reply message; a transmitter at theinfrastructure for transmitting a coupon bar code signal; and amicrophone at the selective call transceiver for enabling visiblepresentation of the coupon bar code at the selective call transceiver inresponse to the coupon bar code signal.
 3. A system, including aninfrastructure and at least one selective call transceiver, forcontrolling visible presentation of a coupon bar code at the selectivecall transceiver, the selective call transceiver receiving at least oneadvertisement from the infrastructure, the advertisement including atleast one question, comprising: a transmitter at the selective calltransceiver for transmitting an answer to the at least one question; acontroller at the infrastructure for determining correctness of theanswer; a transmitter at the infrastructure for transmitting a couponbar code signal if the answer is correct; and a microcomputer at theselective call transceiver for enabling visible presentation of thecoupon bar code at the selective call transceiver in response to thecoupon bar code signal.
 4. A method of presenting coupon bar codes on adisplay of a selective call apparatus, comprising the steps of: (a)receiving an advertisement and an associated coupon bar code; (b)storing the coupon bar in the selective call apparatus; (c) presentingon the display the advertisement; (d) subsequent to step (c), presentingon the display the associated coupon bar code, wherein the associatedcoupon bar code is presented on the display for a preselected limitedperiod of time and is then erased from the display; (e) subsequent tostep (d), reading the associated coupon bar code, wherein the readingincludes scanning the associated coupon bar code with a laser bar codereader; and (f) permanently wiping from the selective call apparatus thecoupon bar code to prevent further presentation of the coupon bar codeon the display.
 5. A method of presenting coupon bar codes on a displayof a selective call apparatus, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving anadvertisement and an associated coupon bar code; (b) storing the couponbar in the selective call apparatus; (c) presenting on the display theadvertisement; and (d) subsequent to step (c), presenting on the displaythe associated coupon bar code, wherein the associated coupon bar codeis presented on the display for a preselected limited period of time andis then erased from the display; and (e) permanently wiping from theselective call apparatus the coupon bar code to prevent furtherpresentation of the coupon bar code on the display.
 6. A method ofpresenting coupons on a display of a selective call apparatus,comprising the steps of: (a) receiving at least one advertisement, eachadvertisement including an associated coupon, each coupon including anassociated coupon bar code; (b) setting a minimum advertisement displayperiod; (c) presenting on the display the advertisement; and (d)subsequent to step (c), presenting on the display a list of associatedcoupons only if, at step (c), the corresponding advertisement had beenpresented on the display for a period equal to or greater than theminimum advertisement display period.
 7. The method of claim 6, in whichthe minimum advertisement display period that is set at step (b) is afixed minimum advertisement display period pre-set in the selective callapparatus for all advertisements.
 8. The method of claim 6, in whicheach advertisement includes an associated preselected period, and inwhich the minimum advertisement display period that is set at step (b)is separately set for each advertisement and is the associatedpreselected period that is included with the advertisement.
 9. Themethod of claim 6, including the steps of: (e) selecting a selectedcoupon from among the list of the associated coupons; and (f) presentingon the display the associated coupon bar code corresponding to theselected coupon.
 10. The method of claim 9, in which the advertisementincludes data regarding number of times, x, the associated coupon barcode can be presented on the display, and in which step (f) is repeatedno more than x times.
 11. The method of claim 6, in which eachadvertisement includes a separate expiration date, and in which anassociated coupon is included in the list presented at step (d) onlyprior to the occurrence of the expiration date for each associatedcoupon.
 12. The method of claim 11, including the steps of: (e)selecting a selected coupon from among the list of the associatedcoupons; and (f) presenting on the display the associated coupon barcode corresponding to the selected coupon.
 13. A method of presentingcoupons on a display of a selective call apparatus, comprising the stepsof: (a) receiving an advertisement, each advertisement including anassociated coupon bar code; (b) setting a minimum advertisement displayperiod; (c) presenting on the display the advertisement; and (d)subsequent to step (c), presenting on the display the associated couponbar code only if, at step (c), the corresponding advertisement had beenpresented on the display for a period equal to or greater than theminimum advertisement display period.
 14. The method of claim 13, inwhich the minimum advertisement display period that is set at step (b)is a fixed minimum advertisement display period pre-set in the selectivecall apparatus.
 15. The method of claim 13, in which the advertisementincludes an associated preselected period, and in which the minimumadvertisement display period that is set at step (b) is the associatedpreselected period that is included with the advertisement.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, in which the advertisement includes data regardingnumber of times, x, the associated coupon bar code can be presented onthe display, and including a step of: (e) in which step (d) is repeatedno more than x times.
 17. The method of claim 13, in which theadvertisement includes an expiration date, and in which an associatedcoupon bar code is presented on the display at step (d) only prior tothe occurrence of the expiration date.